Systems and methods of managing a database of alphanumeric values

ABSTRACT

One aspect of the subject matter described herein comprises a database management system. The database management system comprises a communication circuit, an interface, and a processor. The communication circuit receives information from databases via a communication network. The interface allows user operation and interaction via the communication network and the database management system. The processor provides data to and receives data from the interface, including a plurality of alphanumeric records comprising at least one unique identifier, obtains database records from other databases for each unique identifier, identifies a number of alphanumeric records in the plurality having events in their histories, determines a percentage of alphanumeric records in the plurality having negative events in their histories, generates a report including the determined percentages, and conveys the report to the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims priority to Provisional Application No.62/351,241 entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IDENTIFYING AND APPLYINGVALUE FROM HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS” filed Jun. 16, 2016, thedisclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated in its entirety byreference herein.

BACKGROUND

This application relates to providing information in an alphanumericformat for processing. The information may be stored in a database usedto aggregate information from an entity or a plurality of entities forprocessing by a data processing system. Based on the information in thedatabase, a plurality of other databases may be searched for records andthe records from the plurality of other databases may be compared. Insome embodiments, the information provided to the database may relate toinventories. By comparing records from the plurality of other databases,information that is only available in one of the databases may beidentified. Accordingly, systems and methods of receiving informationfor storage in a database and comparison of records for that informationfrom a plurality of other databases are desired.

SUMMARY

Various implementations of methods and devices within the scope of theappended claims each have several aspects, no single one of which issolely responsible for the desirable attributes described herein.Without limiting the scope of the appended claims, some prominentfeatures are described herein.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will becomeapparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note thatthe relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn toscale.

One aspect of the subject matter described herein comprises a system foridentifying and analyzing database records. The system comprises acommunication circuit, an interface, and a processor. The communicationcircuit is configured to transmit and receive information over acommunication network. The interface is configured to allow useroperation and interaction via the communication network. The processoris configured to provide data to and receive data from the interface andreceive, via the interface, a first list of records. The list of recordscomprises one or more alphanumeric records, wherein at least one uniqueidentifier exists for each alphanumeric record. The processor is alsoconfigured to generate a second list of records comprising one or morealphanumeric records based on validating each of the alphanumericrecords of the first list, wherein only validated alphanumeric recordsof the first list are included in the second list. For each alphanumericrecord in the second list, the processor is configured to request one ormore database records from one or more databases via the communicationnetwork based on the unique identifier, wherein each obtained databaserecord includes a history of events associated with the uniqueidentifier. The processor is further configured to identify, based onthe obtained database records, a number of alphanumeric records in thesecond list having events in their respective histories that wereobtained from an exclusive database of the one or more databases,wherein the exclusive database provides database records to only selectusers. The processor is also further configured to determine apercentage of alphanumeric records in the second list having negativeevents in their respective histories as compared to a total number ofalphanumeric records for which any database record was returned from theone or more databases. The processor is further also configured togenerate a report including the determined percentage and convey thereport to the user via the communication circuit.

Another aspect of the subject matter described herein comprises a methodof identifying and analyzing database records. The method comprisesreceiving, via an interface, a first list of records. The first listcomprises one or more alphanumeric records, wherein at least one uniqueidentifier exists for each alphanumeric record. The method furthercomprises generating a second list of records comprising one or morealphanumeric records based on validating each of the alphanumericrecords of the first list, wherein only validated alphanumeric recordsof the first list are included in the second list. The method alsocomprises storing the second list of records in a database. For eachalphanumeric record in the second list, the method comprises requestingone or more database records from one or more databases via acommunication network based on the unique identifier, wherein eachobtained database record includes a history of events associated withthe unique identifier. The method also further comprises identifying,based on the obtained database records, a number of alphanumeric recordsin the second list having events in their respective histories that wereobtained from an exclusive database of the one or more databases,wherein the exclusive database provides database records to only selectusers. The method further also comprises determining a percentage ofalphanumeric records in the second list having negative events in theirrespective histories as compared to a total number of alphanumericrecords for which any database record was returned from the one or moredatabases. Additionally, the method comprises generating a reportincluding the determined percentage and conveying the report to the uservia the communication circuit.

One aspect of the subject matter described herein comprises a system foridentifying and analyzing database records. The system comprises meansfor transmitting and receiving information over a communication network.The system also comprises means for allowing user operation andinteraction via the communication network and means for providing datato and receive data from the interface. The system also furthercomprises means for receiving a first list of records, the listcomprising one or more alphanumeric records, wherein at least one uniqueidentifier exists for each alphanumeric record. The system furthercomprises means for generating a second list of records comprising oneor more alphanumeric records based on validating each of thealphanumeric records of the first list, wherein only validatedalphanumeric records of the first list are included in the second list.The system further also comprises means for requesting, for eachalphanumeric record in the second list, one or more database recordsfrom one or more databases via the communication network based on theunique identifier, wherein each obtained database record includes ahistory of events associated with the unique identifier. Additionally,the system comprises means for identifying, based on the obtaineddatabase records, a number of alphanumeric records in the second listhaving events in their respective histories that were obtained from anexclusive database of the one or more databases, wherein the exclusivedatabase provides database records to only select users. Furthermore,the system comprises means for determining a percentage of alphanumericrecords in the second list having negative events in their respectivehistories as compared to a total number of alphanumeric records forwhich any database record was returned from the one or more databases.Also, the system comprises means for generating a report including thedetermined percentage and means for conveying the report to the user viathe communication circuit.

One aspect of the subject matter described herein comprises historicalreport valuation system. The system comprises a communication circuit,an interface, and a processor. The communication circuit is configuredto receive information from one or more sources via a communicationnetwork. The interface is configured to allow user operation andinteraction via the communication network. The processor is configuredto provide data to and receive data from the interface. The processor isalso configured to receive, via the interface, an inventory of vehicles,the inventory comprising at least one vehicle identified by at least oneof a vehicle identification number (VIN), a license plate number, orother unique vehicle identifier. The processor is further configured toautomatically obtain vehicle history records from one or more sourcesfor each vehicle in the inventory when the inventory is received. Theprocessor is also further configured to identify, based on the obtainedvehicle history records, a number of vehicles in the inventory havingevents in their respective histories that reduce values of therespective vehicles. The processor is further also configured toautomatically determine a percentage of vehicles in the inventory havingevents that reduce the values of the respective vehicles andautomatically generate a report including the determined percentage forautomatic conveyance to the user via the communication circuit with analarm or notification when the percentage of vehicles in the inventoryhaving events that reduce the values of the respective vehicles meets orexceeds a specified threshold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned aspects, as well as other features, aspects, andadvantages of the present technology will now be described in connectionwith various aspects, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Theillustrated aspects, however, are merely examples and are not intendedto be limiting. Throughout the drawings, similar symbols typicallyidentify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. Notethat the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawnto scale.

The figures depicted herein and the corresponding descriptions mayutilize examples involving dealers, vehicles, and corresponding entitiesand items. However, these entities and items may be replaced with anysaleable consumer good or item.

FIG. 1 illustrates one possible organization of a system that canprovide dealerships with knowledge regarding an effect of a subscriptionhistory service on the dealerships, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram corresponding to an aspect of a hardwareand/or software component of an example embodiment of the system of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a depiction of various sections of a North American VIN.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screenshot of a website used to inputinformation based on which the historical report valuation system ofFIG. 1 generates a lift report.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram for a lift report process of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram for generating a lift report according tothe data of the flow diagram of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram for another method of obtaininginformation for generation of a lift report by the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram for generating a lift report according tothe data of the flow diagram of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an example of a screenshot of the lift report generated by thehistorical report valuation system of FIG. 1, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an example of rules applied when analyzing a VIN data tablewith the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is an example of a screenshot of a website used to generate areport by the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is a process flowchart illustrating an example method ofgenerating the report provided by the system of FIG. 1, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods aredescribed more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. The teachings disclosed may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to any specificstructure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather,these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to thoseskilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, one skilled in theart should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended tocover any aspect of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methodsdisclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined withany other aspect of the invention. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the invention is intended tocover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than the various aspects of the invention set forth herein. Itshould be understood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied byone or more elements of a claim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different consumergoods and services industries. The detailed description and drawings aremerely illustrative of the disclosure rather than limiting, the scope ofthe disclosure being defined by the appended claims and equivalentsthereof.

Popular network technologies may include various types of wireless orwired networks. The wireless or wired network may be used tointerconnect nearby devices together, employing widely used networkingprotocols. The various aspects described herein may apply to anycommunication standard, such as a wireless 802.11 protocol.

Dealers often purchase or accept used vehicles to later sell for aprofit. However, in some situations, the parties from whom the dealersare purchasing or accepting the used vehicles may be unable or unwillingto disclose all details regarding the vehicles' histories. Accordingly,the dealer may purchase or accept a vehicle having one or more events inits history that cause a value of the vehicle to be lower than expectedby the dealer. An aspect of the disclosure herein may provide a reportregarding a dealer's inventory. The report may be based on a “lift”provided to the dealer by a vehicle history report service. The lift maycorrespond to a value or benefit that the dealer could receive from thevehicle history report service. For example, the lift may comprise apercentage that corresponds to a number of vehicles in an inventory withnegative history events that the dealer was not aware of but could havebeen aware of by using the vehicle history report service.Alternatively, or additionally, the lift may comprise a percentagecorresponding to a number of vehicles in the dealer's inventory that thedealer could have purchased at a lower price or avoided for monetarysavings to the dealer. The lift may, thus, provide a dealer with ametric or measure by which the dealer can determine a usefulness of thevehicle history report service as it applies to a dealer's specificinventory.

Additionally, the dealer may be provided with an estimated return oninvestment (“ROI”) based on the cost of the vehicle history reportservice as compared to the money saved as a result of using the vehiclehistory report service. For example, the ROI may be specific to eachdealer dependent on the vehicles in the dealer's inventory. For example,when the dealer purchases and/or sells a large number of used vehicles(e.g., greater than 200 used vehicles per year), then the ROI may begreater than for a dealer that sells a small number of used vehicle(e.g., less than 20 used vehicles per year). The ROI may also oralternatively be dependent on the lift of the dealer.

FIG. 1 illustrates one possible organization of a system 100 that canprovide dealerships with knowledge regarding a value and/or an effect ofa subscription history service for or on the dealerships, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment. The system 100 comprises a terminal 102(e.g., a terminal at a dealer), a vehicle history data store 104, one ormore computing devices 106, a historical report valuation system 108, anexclusive vehicle history data store 109, and a network 110.Additionally, communication links are shown enabling communication amongthe components of system 100 via the network 110. In some embodiments,one or more of the devices (e.g., a server) and terminals describedherein may be combined into a single server and/or terminal. In someembodiments, two or more of the components described above may beintegrated. In some embodiments, one or more of the components may beexcluded from the system 100. The system 100 may be used to implementsystems and methods described herein.

In some embodiments, the network 110 may comprise any wired or wirelesscommunication network by which data and/or information may becommunicated between multiple electronic and/or computing devices. Theterminal 102 may comprise any computing device configured to transmitand receive data and information via the network 110 at or by a dealeror an entity associated with the dealer. In some embodiments, theterminal 102 may comprise or have access to various records andinformation associated with the dealer, such as a vehicle inventory. Thevehicle history data store 104 may comprise any vehicle history databaseor other vehicle information source that may provide vehicle historydata based on a vehicle's unique identifier (e.g., a vehicleidentification number, a license plate number, etc.). For example, thevehicle history data store 104 may comprise dealer records, state agencyrecords, independent agency records, and the like. In some embodiments,the vehicle history data store 104 may comprise publicly available or“shared” sources only.

The one or more computing devices 106 may comprise any computing deviceconfigured to transmit and receive data and information via the network110. In some embodiments, the computing device 106 may be configured toperform analysis of the transmitted and received data and informationand/or perform one or more actions based on the performed analysisand/or the transmitted and received data and information. In someembodiments, the one or more computing devices 106 may comprise mobileor stationary computing devices. In some embodiments, the terminal 102and the one or more computing devices 106 may be integrated into asingle terminal or device.

The historical report valuation system 108 may comprise one or moredevices and/or components that are configured to determine a liftavailable for a dealer by using one or more vehicle history data storesavailable only to the historical report valuation system 108 (e.g.,exclusive, private, or individual sources, such as the exclusive vehiclehistory data store 109) and configured to generate a dealership reportbased on the lift. For example, the historical report valuation system108 may comprise one or more databases to store information, e.g.,vehicle history reports, dealer inventory information, dealer liftreports and associated information, etc. based on a vehicle's uniqueidentifier (e.g., a vehicle identification number, a license platenumber, etc.). In some embodiments, the historical report valuationsystem 108 may be configured to receive information from one or more ofthe terminal 102, the one or more computing devices 106, the vehiclehistory data store 104, and/or the exclusive vehicle history data store109. In some embodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 maybe configured to generate commands to or perform other actions inrelation to the terminal 102 and/or the one or more computing devices106. In some embodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 maybe configured to generate commands to or perform other actions inrelation to the vehicle history data store 104 and/or the exclusivevehicle history data store 109. The exclusive vehicle history data store109 may comprise a vehicle history database or other vehicle informationsource that may provide vehicle history data based on a vehicle's uniqueidentifier (e.g., a vehicle identification number, a license platenumber, etc.). For example, the exclusive vehicle history data store 109may comprise dealer records, state agency records, independent agencyrecords, and the like. In some embodiments, contrary to the vehiclehistory data store 104, the exclusive vehicle history data store 109 maycomprise only private or “exclusive” sources only, and thus may haveinformation only available to the historical report valuation system108.

For example, the historical report valuation system 108 may beconfigured to determine a subset of vehicles of a dealer inventory forwhich historical information is only available in exclusive orindividual sources (e.g., the exclusive vehicle history data store 109).The exclusive or individual sources may include information regardingreported issues with one or more vehicles of the subset of vehicles,including accident and/or damage related events for one or more vehiclesof the subset of vehicles. Once the subset of vehicles is determined,the historical report valuation system 108 may determine a lift valuethat the historical report valuation system 108 can provide to thedealer. In some embodiments, such determinations may involveidentifying, accessing, and comparing information from disparate sources(e.g., the vehicle history data store 104 and the exclusive vehiclehistory data store 109) that are incapable of being directly comparedand/or combined. In some embodiments, the historical report valuationsystem 108 may utilize various factors in determining the lift value.These factors may include inputs provided via the terminal 102 or one ormore of the computing devices 106 and inputs generated from extensivemarket research and trends, among others. In some embodiments, thefactors may be particular to each dealer and thus may provide individuallifts for each dealer.

The historical report valuation system 108 may be further configured togenerate a dealership report. The dealership report may illustrate therelative benefit or value of using the exclusive vehicle history datastore 109 as compared to using only the publicly shared vehicle historydata store 104. In some embodiments, the dealership report may generatea dollar amount corresponding to an amount of money the dealer wouldsave by using the one or more exclusive vehicle history data stores 109in combination with or instead of the publicly shared vehicle historydata stores 104. In some embodiments, the historical report valuationsystem 108 may generate alarms and/or notifications to the dealer and/orthe user based on the generated amounts and/or determined value. In someembodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 may provide forthreshold amounts or threshold changes to be established by the dealeror the user to allow the dealer and/or the user to receive thedealership report only when certain conditions are met. For example, thedealership report may be sent when the value of the one or moreexclusive vehicle history data stores 109 meets or exceeds a specifiedvalue or when the dollar amount meets or exceeds a specified amount.Alternatively, or additionally, the dealership report may be sent whenthe lift reaches a threshold value or when a quantity of vehicle recordsonly available in the exclusive vehicle history data store 109 reachesor crosses a threshold value.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram corresponding to hardware and/or softwarecomponents of an example embodiment of the historical report valuationsystem 108 of FIG. 1. The hardware and/or software components asdiscussed below with reference to the block diagram of the historicalreport valuation system 108 may be included in any of the devices of thesystem 100 (e.g., the terminal 102, the computing devices 106, etc.).These components may be used to implement systems and methods describedherein.

In some embodiments, certain modules described below, such as a liftmodule 208, a user interface module 214, or a dealership report module216 included with the historical report valuation system 108 may beincluded with, performed by, or distributed among different and/ormultiple devices of the system 100. For example, certain user interfacefunctionality described herein may be performed by the user interfacemodule 210 of the historical report valuation system 108 and/or by theuser interface module 210 of the computing device 106.

In some embodiments, the various modules described herein may beimplemented by either hardware or software. In an embodiment, varioussoftware modules included in the historical report valuation system 108may be stored on a component of the historical report valuation system108 itself, or on computer readable storage media or other componentseparate from the historical report valuation system 108 and incommunication with the historical report valuation system 108 via thenetwork 110 or other appropriate means.

The historical report valuation system 108 may comprise, for example, acomputer that is IBM, Macintosh, or Linux/Unix compatible or a server orworkstation. In some embodiments, the historical report valuation system108 comprises a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a kiosk, or amedia player. In some embodiments, the historical report valuationsystem 108 may comprise more than one of these devices. In someembodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 includes one ormore central processing units (“CPUs” or processors) 202, 110 interfacesand devices 204, memory 206, a lift module 208, a mass storage device210, multimedia devices 212, the user interface module 214, thedealership report module 216, and a bus 218.

The CPU 202 may control operation of the historical report valuationsystem 108. The CPU 202 may also be referred to as a processor. Theprocessor 202 may comprise or be a component of a processing systemimplemented with one or more processors. The one or more processors maybe implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmablegate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers,state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicatedhardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that canperform calculations or other manipulations of information.

The I/O interface 204 comprises a keypad, a microphone, a touchpad, aspeaker, and/or a display, or any other commonly available input/output(I/O) devices and interfaces. The I/O interface 204 may include anyelement or component that conveys information to a consumer or user ofhistorical report valuation system 108 and/or receives input from theconsumer or user. In one embodiment, the I/O interface 204 includes oneor more display devices, such as a monitor, that allows the visualpresentation of data to the consumer. More particularly, the displaydevice provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data,websites, web apps, and multimedia presentations, for example.

In some embodiments, the I/O interface 204 may provide a communicationinterface to various external devices. For example, historical reportvaluation system 108 is electronically coupled to the network 110 (FIG.1), which comprises one or more of a LAN, WAN, and/or the Internet.Accordingly, the I/O interface 204 includes an interface allowing forcommunication with the network 106, for example, via a wiredcommunication port, a wireless communication port, or combinationthereof. The network 110 may allow various computing devices and/orother electronic devices to communicate with each other via wired orwireless communication links.

The memory 206, which includes one or both of read-only memory (ROM) andrandom access memory (RAM), may provide instructions and data to theprocessor 202. For example, inputs received by one or more components ofthe historical report valuation system 108 may be stored in the memory206. A portion of the memory 206 may also include non-volatile randomaccess memory (NVRAM). The processor 202 typically performs logical andarithmetic operations based on program instructions stored within thememory 206. The instructions in the memory 206 may be executable toimplement the methods described herein. In some embodiments, the memory206 may be configured as a database and may store information that isreceived via the user interface module 214 or the I/O interfaces anddevices 204.

The historical report valuation system 108 may also include the massstorage device 210 for storing software or information (for example, thevehicle history reports or associated data, historical information,comparison data, etc.). Software shall be construed broadly to mean anytype of instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Instructions may include code (e.g., in source code format, binary codeformat, executable code format, or any other suitable format of code).The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described herein.Accordingly, the historical report valuation system 108 may include,e.g., hardware, firmware, and software, or any combination therein. Themass storage device 210 may comprise a hard drive, diskette, solid statedrive, or optical media storage device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the historical report valuation system 108 includesthe dealership report module 216. In some embodiments, the dealershipreport module 216 may be stored in the mass storage device 210 asexecutable software code that is executed by the processor 202. This,and other modules in the historical report valuation system 108, mayinclude components, such as hardware and/or software components,object-oriented software components, class components and taskcomponents, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines,segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data,databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 2, the historical report valuation system 108is configured to execute the dealership report module 216 to perform thevarious methods and/or processes as described herein.

In some embodiments, the dealership report module 216 may be configuredto generate the dealership report mentioned above and further describedin relation to FIG. 11. In some embodiments, the dealership reportmodule 216 may utilize information received from the lift module 208and/or the terminal 102 or the user of the computing device 106 of FIG.1 to generate the dealership report for a specific dealer. For example,the historical report valuation system 108 may receive information thatthe dealer provides via the terminal 102, which the dealer had fromprevious transactions (e.g., the vehicle inventory, vehicle salesfigures, etc.). In some embodiments, the historical report valuationsystem 108 may receive the information, and the dealership report module216 may use this information in determining the dealership report forthe dealer with regard to using the one or more exclusive vehiclehistory data stores as opposed to only the shared vehicle history datastores 104. The dealership report module 216 may also use theinformation for generating the dealership report. The dealership reportmodule 216 may acquire and use information from one or more third partydatabases, such as lender systems, which may provide various data fromwhich the dealership report may be determined and the dealership reportgenerated.

For example, the historical report valuation system 108 may receive,from the third party databases such as the lender systems, informationregarding the average values of vehicle sold in a region or an averagevaluation loss resulting from a negative event in a vehicle's history.These are examples of information that may greatly impact the dealershipreport as determined by the dealership report module 216 and presentedto the dealer and/or user on the generated dealership report. In someembodiments, the dealership report module 216 may assist in generating adealer's dealership report rating or level.

In some embodiments, the dealership report module 216 and/or the liftmodule 208 may identify a request for a dealership report determinationand/or report or lift report as received from the dealer or user via theterminal 102 or computing device 106. In some embodiments, the requestfor the dealership report determination or report may include any of theinformation discussed herein. In some embodiments, the dealership reportmodule 216 (or the processor 202) may use the information received todetermine or identify the dealer dealership report or extrapolateadditional information. The request may request all acquired anddetermined or identified data and/or records associated with the vehicleequity to be returned to the historical report valuation system 108(e.g., for storage in the mass storage device 210). In some embodiments,the request for the lift report may include any of the lift informationdiscussed herein. In some embodiments, the lift module 208 (or theprocessor 202) may use the information received from the user todetermine or identify the list available to the dealer based onexclusive sources such as the exclusive vehicle history data store 109.The request for the lift report may include some information (e.g., theVINs of the dealer).

As shown in FIG. 2, the historical report valuation system 108 includesthe lift module 208. The lift module 208 may determine the lift for aspecific dealer based on the dealer's inventory and the vehicle historyreports from exclusive and shared vehicle history data stores of thevehicles associated with the dealer's inventory. In some embodiments,the lift module 208 may be stored in the mass storage device 210 asexecutable software code that is executed by the processor 202. This,and other modules in historical report valuation system 108, may includecomponents, such as hardware and/or software components, object-orientedsoftware components, class components and task components, processes,functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of programcode, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, datastructures, tables, arrays, and variables. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, historical report valuation system 108 is configured to executethe lift module 208 to perform the various methods and/or processes asdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, the lift module 208 may be configured to identify arequest, as received from the dealer using the terminal 102 or the userof the computing device 106 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the requestfor the lift determination or report may include dealer inventory aswell as information about whether the lift information should becompared with lift information of other dealers, etc. In someembodiments, the dealer inventory may be saved as part of a dealerprofile, for example, as associated with a dealer account with thehistorical report valuation system 108. Similarly, in some embodiments,the dealer or user may provide threshold information and/or informationregarding what information and comparisons to make as part of the liftdetermination and/or report.

For example, the historical report valuation system 108 may receive,from the third party databases such as the lender systems and/or the oneor more exclusive vehicle history data stores, information regarding thevehicle histories of vehicles in the dealer's inventory. These areexamples of information that may greatly impact the lift values asdetermined by the lift module 208 and which are presented to the dealerand/or user on the generated lift report. In some embodiments, the liftmodule 216 may assist in generating the dealer's lift rating(s) orlevel(s).

In some embodiments, the lift module 208 may receive lift data and/orthreshold criteria from the terminal 102 and/or the user computingdevices 106. The lift module 208 may be configured to apply theinformation received in the lift request to the criteria received fromthe lender systems 110 or the terminal 102 to generate the requestedlift determination. In some embodiments, the lift module 208 may requestthe dealer or the user identify or select the threshold values asdescribed herein.

The historical report valuation system 108 also includes the userinterface module 214. In some embodiments, the user interface module 214may also be stored in the mass storage device 210 as executable softwarecode that is executed by the processor 202. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, the historical report valuation system 108 may be configured toexecute the user interface module 214 to perform the various methodsand/or processes as described herein.

The user interface module 214 may be configured to generate and/oroperate user interfaces of various types. In some embodiments, the userinterface module 214 constructs pages, applications (“apps”) or displaysto be displayed in a web browser or computer/mobile application. In someembodiments, the user interface module 214 may provide an application orsimilar module for download and operation on the terminal 102 and/or thecomputing devices 106, through which the dealer/user and the historicalreport valuation system 108 may interact. The pages or displays may, insome embodiments, be specific to a type of device, such as a mobiledevice or a desktop web browser, to maximize usability for theparticular device. In some embodiments, the user interface module 214may also interact with a client-side application, such as a mobile phoneapplication (an “app”), a standalone desktop application, or usercommunication accounts (e.g., e-mail, SMS messaging, etc.) and providedata as necessary to display vehicle equity and prequalificationdeterminations.

For example, as described herein, the historical report valuation system108 may be accessible to the dealer via a website (e.g., the dealer'swebsite or the historical report valuation system 108 website) which mayinclude a banner ad or widget for lift and/or dealership reports. Insome embodiments, the dealer or user may select only lift or dealershipreport and may opt out of the other of the determinations or reports. Insome embodiments, the dealer and/or user may also provide their consentto have the dealer inventory acquired and uploaded by the historicalreport valuation system 108.

In some embodiments, the historical report valuation determinations,historical report valuation reports, and/or historical report valuationalarms or notifications are examples of communications that may be madeautomatically once the dealer inventory is provided. In someembodiments, these communications may be specially formatted to besimultaneously communicated to the dealer and/or user via multiplecommunications methods and/or formats (e.g., text, e-mail, call, mail,etc.) so the dealer and/or user may receive the communication promptly.

In some embodiments, a user may use one of the terminal 102 and thecomputing devices 106 to access the historical report valuation system108. In some embodiments, the user may use the historical reportvaluation system 108 itself. The user may be working with and/orrepresenting a dealer and/or a service provider and may wish to generateor identify a lift or ROI for the dealer as provided by the historicalreport valuation system 108. The historical report valuation system 108(e.g., the lift module 208 or the processor 202) may request the userprovide or prompt the user for an inventory of used vehicles owned bythe dealer, which the user may provide. For example, the user of theterminal 102 may access a website or web app for the historical reportvaluation system 108 and may be prompted to provide a list of all usedvehicles owned by the dealer. This list may include vehicleidentification numbers (“VINs”) for all used vehicles owned by thedealer over some period of time. In some embodiments, the VIN list mayalso include some information about the dealer, including annual salesnumbers, dates of sales/purchases, etc. In some embodiments, thehistorical report valuation system 108 may already have a copy of thedealer's VIN list stored in the memory 206 or the mass storage device210 and may automatically retrieve the stored information when the userselects the corresponding dealer from the website or web app. In someembodiments, the user may retrieve the dealer's inventory from anotherentity that may report or provide the inventory on behalf of the dealer.

Once the historical report valuation system 108 receives the inventoryinformation, the user may view the inventory information via the I/Ointerfaces and devices 204 and/or the user interface module 214 or viathe terminal 102 or the computing device 106. Once the historical reportvaluation system 108 receives the VIN list (e.g., via the I/O interfacesand devices 204 or via the user interface module 214), the processor 202or the lift module 208 may store the received list in the memory 206and/or the mass storage device 210. In some embodiments, the receiveddealer VIN list may be parsed and/or manipulated by the processor 202 orthe lift module 208 to generate a new list in a new format. In someembodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 (or the memory 206or the mass storage device 210) may generate a new list identifying orincluding only information from the dealer's inventory that is usefulfor generating the lift or corresponding reports of the dealer (e.g.,unique VINs, dates of purchase/sale, etc., quantity of used vehicles).In some embodiments, generating the new list by the processor 202 or thelift module 208 may comprise reviewing the dealer's inventory andremoving duplicate VINs, verifying that the included VINs are valid,etc., so that the new list comprises only a single set of validinformation for each used vehicle owned by the dealer.

In some embodiments, the VINs list, VINs file, or VIN data table mayprove problematic for processing. The VINs in the VINs file or the VINdata table may be alphanumeric identifiers where each sequence ofalphanumeric identifiers comprises various segments or portions, asexplained in relation to FIG. 3. Thus, the arrangement and/or order ofcharacters in the VINs list, VINs file, or VIN data table must be in theproper order for the identifiers to be correct. This may be due to alarge quantity of VINs in the VINs list, VINs file, or VIN data table ordue to defective or invalid VINs in the VINs list, VINs file, or VINdata table. As one potential solution, defective, duplicate, or invalidVINs may be removed from the VINs list, VINs file, or VIN data table toreduce processing and to avoid delays caused by attempting to processinvalid or defective VINs. Additionally, the filtering of defective,duplicate, or invalid VINs may also reduce the quantity of VINs thatneed to be processed. In some embodiments, the processing of the VINsfile or data table may be batched so as to perform all the processing ata single session. This may reduce overhead during critical processingtimes by allowing for scheduling of the processing of the VINs asdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may not beused to generate the new list, but rather the computing device 106 orthe terminal 102 may just forward the dealer inventory to the historicalreport valuation system 108 via the network in a validated list withoutneed for additional modification. In some embodiments, the inventoryinformation may be provided directly to the historical report valuationsystem 108 (bypassing the party using the computing device 106), and thehistorical report valuation system 108 may automatically place thereceived inventory information in a proper format.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 uses thenew list comprising only the valid used vehicles VINs to generatevehicle history report requests from the vehicle history data store 104and the exclusive vehicle history data store 109 of FIG. 1. Theprocessor 202 or the lift module 208 may store the vehicle historyreports received from the vehicle history data store 104 and theexclusive vehicle history data store 109 in the memory 206 and/or themass storage device 210. Once the vehicle history reports are obtainedand/or stored, one of the processor 202 or the lift module 208 maycompare the vehicle history reports received from the vehicle historydata store 104 and the vehicle history reports received from theexclusive vehicle history data store 109. Details regarding thecomparison of the vehicle history reports from the vehicle history datastore 104 and the exclusive vehicle history data store 109 are providedherein, for example, in relation to FIGS. 5-10.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 and/or the lift module 208 maygenerate a lift report based on the list (e.g., new and/or original),the vehicle history reports from the vehicle history data stores 104,and the vehicle history data reports from the one or more exclusivevehicle history data stores 109. In some embodiments, the lift reportmay comprise a listing of the unique VINs for each used vehicle in thedealer inventory with corresponding events from the vehicle historyreports received from the shared vehicle history data stores 104 andevents from the vehicle history reports received from the one or moreexclusive vehicle history data stores 109. An example of this listing isshown in relation to spreadsheet 1000 of FIG. 10 below. The eventslisted in the lift report may comprise events that reduce a value of theassociated vehicle (e.g., accidents, title issues, etc.).

The events listed in the spreadsheet 1000 may be used by the processor202 or the lift module 208 to generate the lift report 900 as shown inFIG. 9. For example, the lift report 900 may comprise a column of VINswith corresponding columns of dates and events received from the sharedvehicle history data stores 104 and corresponding columns of dates andevents received from the exclusive vehicle history data stores 109. Thelift report 900 may also comprise data corresponding to: (a) a totalnumber of used vehicles identified in the dealer inventory (e.g., atotal number of used vehicle VINs received from the terminal 102); (b) atotal number of the VINs that are processed (e.g., a total number ofVINs after duplicate and improper VINs have been removed from the dealerinventory); (c) a total number of the VINs having vehicle historyreports (e.g., total number of VINs having records in the vehiclehistory data stores 104); (d) a total number of VINs having negativeevents in their vehicle history reports received from the vehiclehistory data stores 104; (e) a percentage of the total number of VINshaving vehicle history reports that include negative events (e.g.,(d)/(c)); (f) a total number of additional VINs having negative eventsin found only in the one or more exclusive vehicle history data stores109; and (g) a percentage of the total number of VINs having negativeevents that were only found in vehicle history reports from the one ormore provided vehicle history data stores (e.g., (f)/(c)). An example ofthe lift report 900 discussed in further detail is included in relationto FIG. 9. In some embodiments, the lift report 900 comprises additionalinformation other than that listed here (e.g., detailed numbersregarding types of issues reported, as broken down between the publiclyavailable and exclusive vehicle history data stores and correspondingpercentages, etc.). In some embodiments, the lift report comprises lessinformation than that listed here (e.g., without individual breakdownsof events found by shared and exclusive sources, etc.).

Based on the generated lift report, the processor 202 or the lift module208 may identify lift data (corresponding to information that is onlyavailable via the exclusive vehicle history data stores 109) in relationto the data received from the shared vehicle history data stores 104.For example, the lift report 900 may include comparisons of a number ofevents identified by the one or more exclusive vehicle history datastores 109 as compared to a number of events identified by the sharedvehicle history data stores 104.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may beconfigured to establish threshold values for one or more of thegenerated numbers or percentages of the lift report 900. The thresholdvalues may be used to identify situations of interest to the user of thecomputing device 106 or the terminal 102 or of interest to the dealer.For example, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may prompt theuser to identify maximum thresholds for any of the values of the liftreport 900, for example values (e) or (g) above. Accordingly, theprocessor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may generate an alarm ornotification to the user based on the provided thresholds and thecalculated lift report values. The alarm or notification may beforwarded to the terminal 102 or computing device 106. In someembodiments, the maximum thresholds may be selected by the dealer oruser via the terminal 102 or by the computing device 106. In someembodiments, the thresholds may be tied to the dealership reportgenerating described below.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may beconfigured to track and evaluate historical information from thegenerated lift report 900 or from the determined but not reported liftvalues. For example, processor 202 or the module 208 or 216, inconjunction with data stored in the memory 206 or the mass storagedevice 210, may be configured to provide historical percentages for (e)and (g) described above to allow the user or the dealer to evaluatetrends and/or perform associated analysis. In some embodiments, theprocessor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may be configured to generateratings or levels (e.g., a numerical rating or level) of the dealer'sinventory as compared to the historical information and/or as comparedto other dealers' inventories. For example, the dealer rating or levelmay provide a relative ranking of a specific dealer versus other dealersof the same owner, region, or manufacturer. In some embodiments, thedealer rating or level may provide an absolute rating or level. In someembodiments, when a rating or level of the dealer is higher than that ofother dealers, the dealer's inventory has a higher number of vehicleshaving negative events than the inventories of the other dealers. Insome embodiments, when the rating or level of the dealer is lower thanthat of the other dealers, the dealer's inventory has a lower number ofvehicles having negative events than the inventories of the otherdealers, or vice versa. In some embodiments, a party interested inpurchasing a used vehicle may use the ratings or levels to determinewhich dealer is likely to the inventory with the least negative events.In some embodiments, identified percentages may include percentagesdirected to particular vehicle types (e.g., sedan, coupe, truck, etc.),manufacturers/makes, vehicle models, etc., that have negative events inthe exclusive versus the shared history data stores. Dealers may berated based on any of the percentages identified herein.

In yet another embodiment, the dealer rating or level can be determined,by the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216, from the time the dealerfirst begins tracking historical report valuation data to the presentday. For instance, a dealer rating or level for a dealer having fiveyears of lift data can be determined one time for each year, so thatmultiple ratings or levels steadily or rapidly improve or decline basedon the reported dealer inventory as compared to other dealers'inventories. Additionally, this same dealer's rating or level can alsobe projected into the future, showing, for example, how a dealer'srating or level may further improve or decline over time givenhistorical trends. In some embodiments, the dealer's rating or level maybe scaled. The scale for the rating or level will be well known to bevariable by those of skill in the art. One embodiment may produceratings or levels between 0 and 100, another 0 to 10, yet anotherbetween 0% and 100%, another between 100 and 1000, and various othernumerical ranges. Conveying the range of the scale to a user shouldprovide sufficient context for a user to interpret the dealer's ratingsor levels that are reported. For example, range information may includeabsolute highest and lowest actual and/or theoretical ratings or levelsfor all dealers (e.g., of a specific manufacturer or within a specificregion, etc.) for which an embodiment of the disclosure has information.In an embodiment, a user may be presented a range of some or a majorityof the ratings or levels of any dealer in the memory 206 or the massstorage device 210 of the historical report valuation system 108. Insome embodiments, the dealer rating(s) and/or level(s) may be providedto a consumer, and the consumer may use the rating and/or level toidentify a dealer for the consumer's patronage.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 mayprovide the dealer (e.g., via the terminal 102) or the user (e.g., viathe computing device 106) with the lift reports 900 based on thethresholds described above. For example, the processor 202 or the module208 or 216 may be configured to analyze a dealer's inventory andidentify the data values, e.g., data values (a)-(g) described above, fortracking purposes but may not generate the lift report 900 unless one ormore of the identified values exceeds a dealer, user, or systemdetermined threshold. Once the threshold is met or exceeded, theprocessor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may generate the report for thedealer or user. In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208or 216 may generate an alarm (e.g., via the I/O interfaces and devices204) or may generate the lift report 900 based on trends of the data.For example, if the data indicates that negative events identified viathe one or more exclusive vehicle history data stores 109 are notidentified by the shared vehicle history data stores 104 at a thresholdlevel, then the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may generate thenotification to the dealer and/or user or may generate the lift report900 for submission to the dealer and/or the user.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may beconfigured to track and evaluate historical information from thegenerated lift report 900 or from the determined lift values. Forexample, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may providehistorical percentages for a dealer's lift as described herein, to allowthe user or the dealer to evaluate trends and/or perform associatedanalysis. In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the module 208 or216 may generate ratings or levels (e.g., a numerical ratings or level)of the dealer's dealership report as compared to the historicalinformation or as compared to other dealers' dealership reports. Forexample, the dealer rating or level may provide a relative ranking of aspecific dealer versus other dealers of the same owner, region, ormanufacturer. In some embodiments, the dealer rating or level mayprovide an absolute rating or level.

Each item sold by a merchant may have a history that impacts a value ofthe item. In some situations, the merchant may not be aware of thehistory of the item until after the merchant purchases the item. Such ascenario may expose the merchant to potential losses if the item has ahistory that depreciates its value. For example, the merchant maypurchase a used vehicle assuming the vehicle has no negative history(e.g., no thefts, accidents, etc.) with intent to sell the used vehiclewith a price A. However, if the merchant later learns that the usedvehicle had been previously stolen and sold at auction, the merchant mayhave to reduce its sales price for the used vehicle to a price B that isless than the price A. The difference between the price A and the priceB comprises an example of a loss felt by the merchant. In someembodiments, a service may exist that allows the merchant to increaseits chances of identifying issues with used items purchased before theinitial sale is completed. In some embodiments, the historical reportvaluation system 108 may be configured to identify a value of theservice to the merchant.

For example, the processor 202 or the module 208 or 216 may providebenefits of using the exclusive vehicle history data store 109 ascompared to not using the exclusive vehicle history data store 109. Insome embodiments, the processor 202, the lift module 208, or the dealerreport module 216 may provide an average benefit to the merchant or acustomized benefit based on the lift report 900 to the merchant. In someembodiments, the benefit calculation, whether the average benefit or thecustomized benefit, may be a comparison between a cost of the exclusivevehicle history data store 109 and savings the service may provide. Thebenefits calculation may utilize historical trends of the merchant (orindustry) in order to generate a prediction of the future benefits. Theaverage benefit may comprise a benefit that is determined or calculatedbased on inputs that are generated as averages for an industry,geographic area, etc. The customized benefit may comprise a benefit thatis determined or calculated based on inputs that are specific to themerchant.

In some embodiments, a user of one of the computing devices 106 or theterminal 102 may interact with the historical report valuation system108 to determine the average or the customized benefit of the historicalreport valuation system 108 to the merchant. When determining theaverage benefit with the historical report valuation system 108, theuser may utilize various values in the benefit calculation. The valuesmay comprise an average total number of sales by one or more entitiesthat are similar to the merchant. Similar entities may comprise otherentities of a similar size, geographic location, industry, etc.Additionally, the values may comprise an average number of reduced valueitems of the average total number of sales, where the average number ofreduced value items comprises a number of items that have reduced valueswhen sold as compared to the expected sale price when purchased by themerchant. The values may also comprise a price difference for each itemhaving a reduced value (e.g., a difference between price A and price Bdescribed herein). The benefit calculation may comprise a total pricereduction for all reduced value items combined as compared to the costof the service. In some embodiments, such benefit calculation may beperformed by the processor 202 or the lift module 208 or the dealershipreport module 216.

When determining the customized benefit, the user may utilize customizedor merchant specific values in the benefit calculation. The merchantspecific values may comprise a total number of sales by the merchant.Additionally, the merchant specific values may comprise a merchantspecific number of reduced value items of the merchant specific totalnumber of sales, where the merchant specific number of reduced valueitems comprises a number of items that have reduced values when sold ascompared to the expected sale price when purchased by the merchant. Themerchant specific values may also comprise an average price differencefor each merchant item having a reduced value (e.g., merchant specificdifference between price A and price B described herein). The merchantspecific benefit determination may comprise a total price reduction forall reduced value items of the merchant combined as compared to thecosts of the service. In some embodiments, the average price differencemay be an average specific to the merchant (e.g., based on themerchant's items).

In some embodiments, determining the customized benefit may involveanalyzing an inventory list of the merchant. Based on the inventorylist, the historical report valuation system 108 may determine whetherthe historical report valuation system 108 is able to provideinformation from exclusive sources that are not available to otherreporting systems or entities. Accordingly, the historical reportvaluation system 108 may determine the benefit specific to the merchant.

In another embodiment, the lift module 208 and the dealership reportmodule 216 (and/or other module of the historical report valuationsystem 108) disclosed herein may be combined or configured to determinethe lift and/or generate the dealership report described herein. In someembodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 (e.g., via theprocessor 202 or the I/O interfaces and devices 204) may receive a batchfile including dealer inventory and historical report valuationthresholds. The historical report valuation system 108 (e.g., via theprocessor 202) may parse the batch files received and provide the parsedinformation for the necessary lift determination and/or reportgeneration.

In some embodiments, one or more windows or interactions between thehistorical report valuation system 108 and the user and/or the dealermay involve a lightbox or overlay layer. For example, a lightbox oroverlay may comprise a format that displays images and/or videos andtext or prompts by filling the screen, and dimming out the rest of theweb page or display. The lightbox or overlay may, alternatively, oradditionally, place a new set of images, information, or prompts overexisting data while maintaining the existing data though it is covered(and thus not as easily viewable) while the new set of information isvisible. For example, the overlay or lightbox may be used to present theinitial widget and/or browsing object.

The historical report valuation system 108 may also include one or moremultimedia devices 212, such as speakers, video cards, graphicsaccelerators, and microphones, for example.

The historical report valuation system 108 may also include a VINValidation Module 217. The VIN validation module 217 may include code,processors, or other components configured to validate alphanumericidentifiers or VIN numbers that are received. The VIN validation module217 may use any method of validating the VINs. For example, the VINvalidation module 217 may perform calculations to ensure that VIN iscorrect based on a check digit in the VIN.

The various components of the historical report valuation system 108 maybe coupled together by a bus system 218. The bus system 218 may includea data bus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus,and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. In differentembodiments, the bus could be implemented in Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (“PCI”), Microchannel, Small Computer System Interface(“SCSI”), Industrial Standard Architecture (“ISA”) and Extended ISA(“EISA”) architectures, for example. In addition, the functionalityprovided for in the components and modules of the historical reportvaluation system 108 may be combined into fewer components and modulesor further separated into additional components and modules than thatshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a depiction of various sections of a North American VIN 300.As shown, the VIN may include 17 alphanumeric characters. In NorthAmerica, the VIN may be divided into six (6) segments or portions. Inother areas of the world, the VIN may include a different number oftotal characters or may be divided into a different number or segmentsor portions. The first portion 302 may include the first three (3)characters (from left to right) of the VIN 300. The second portion 304may include the next five (5) characters of the VIN 300. The thirdportion 306 may include a single (1) character of the VIN 300. Thefourth portion 308 may also include a single (1) character of the VIN300. The fifth portion 310 includes a single (1) character of the VIN300, and the sixth portion 312 includes the last six (6) characters ofthe VIN 300. In some areas, the VIN segments may represent differentidentifiers or information.

The first portion 302 may indicate a “world manufacturer identifier,”which identifies a manufacturer of the vehicle to which the VIN belongs.The first character of the portion 302 may correspond to a region of theworld in which the manufacturer is located. The portion 304 indicates a“vehicle descriptor section” or “VDS” that may identify a vehicle typeand may include information regarding the vehicle's platform, model,body style, and/or engine type. The portion 306 may act as a check digitfor the VIN. The portion 308 may represent the encoded model year forthe VIN. The portion 310 may represent a plant code for the VIN thatidentifies a factory in which the vehicle having the VIN was built. Eachmanufacturer may have its own plant codes. The portion 312 may representa serial number of production number for the vehicle having the VIN. Inaddition, to these breakdowns, particular characters cannot be usedanywhere in VINs, such as “I,” “O,” and “Q.” Furthermore, the letters“U” and “Z” and the number “0” cannot be used in portion 308 for themodel year.

Based on knowledge of the portions and permissible values in the VIN,the processor 202 of the historical report valuation system 108 or anyother component of the system 100 may identify valid VINs. As discussedherein, invalid VINs may be removed from VIN lists or VIN data tables toavoid processing of invalid information.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screenshot of a website 400 used to generatethe lift report by the system of FIG. 1. The lift website 400 shown maybe generated by one of the user interface module 214, the I/O interfacesand device 204, and the lift module 208 of the FIG. 2. In someembodiments, the lift website 400 may provide an interface for the userto provide information to the historical report valuation system 108.

The lift website 400 may include various data entry prompts for input ofdata by the user and/or one or more modules of the historical reportvaluation system 108. The lift website 400 includes a prompt 402 thatinstructs the user to upload a file of VINs (e.g., in comma separatedvalue (CSV) format or any other format) for analysis and determinationof benefit of the historical report valuation system 108. In someembodiments, the file of VINs may include an inventory for a dealer(e.g., an inventory of used vehicles). In some embodiments, the CSV fileof VINs may be stored in the memory 206 of FIG. 2 as a database file orsimilar structure. The lift website 400 further includes a prompt 404 tothe user to enter a total number of records included in the VIN file.The total number of records received from the prompt 404 may be used toconfirm the number of VINs in the received VIN file. If the numbers donot match, then the website (e.g., via the lift module 208 or theprocessor 202) may generate an alarm or error message to the user. Thelift website 400 further includes a prompt 406 to the user to enter atotal number of records included in the VIN file. This prompted valuemay be used by the historical report valuation system to confirm anumber of VINs included in the uploaded VIN file.

In some embodiments, the VIN file may be received in CSV format becausethe VINs and other data in the VINs file will generally be alphanumericcharacters. By utilizing simple CSV file formats, overhead may bereduced by not requiring conversion between more complicated fileformats and simplicity is improved.

The prompts 408 and 410 of the lift website 400 may request that theuser enter contact information for the user or for a person to whom thelift report is to be sent and/or distributed. The prompt 412 may theninstruct the user to submit the information entered on the lift website400. Once the user submits the entered information, the lift website 400may convey one or more pieces of the entered information to thehistorical report valuation system 108 (e.g., the lift module 208).

In some embodiments, uploading the VIN file may comprise handling anduploading large data files, and the resulting reports may be even largeronce combined with information regarding VIN events. Thus, the variouscompression methods may be used to reduce sizes of files and theverification/validation of VINs in the VIN file may be used to reduceunnecessary processing and communication of excessively large files.Furthermore, the VIN files may be limited in size to further reduce theneed to process large quantities of data and communicate the largequantities of data. In some embodiments, the VINs may be verified orvalidated using any known method of verification or validation.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram for a lift report process or method 500 ofthe system 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.Method 500 is an exemplary description of a method that may involve theuser using the terminal 102 or one of the computing devices 106 and thehistorical report valuation system 108. Methods similar to method 500may be run simultaneously, in an overlapping manner, or sequentially formultiple dealers or users that are each accessing the historical reportvaluation system 108 via one or more terminals 102 or via users withcomputing devices 106. In some embodiments, particular steps of themethod 500 may be implemented by the processor 202, as referenced inFIG. 2. In some embodiments, one or more of the steps of the method 500are implemented by one or more of the other components of the historicalreport valuation system 108, as referenced in FIGS. 1 and 2. In someembodiments, the blocks of the method 500 are performed in a sequentialmanner, while in other embodiments, the blocks of the method 500 may beperformed in a non-sequential manner, regardless of the terminology usedto describe the method 500 herein. A person having ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that the method 500 may be implemented by othersuitable devices and systems. Although the method 500 is describedherein with reference to a particular order, in various aspects, blocksherein may be performed in a different order, or omitted, and additionalblocks may be added.

The method 500 may begin at block 502, where the user accesses a websiteor web app (website) via the Internet or similar network (e.g., the liftwebsite 400). The lift website 400, as discussed herein, may provide theuser with an ability to provide and/or upload information. Thisinformation, as discussed herein, may include the dealer inventory ofVINs and may be used by the historical report valuation system 108.Thus, at block 502, the user may access the lift website 400 and uploadthe VIN file and other information as described in relation to FIG. 4via the lift website 400.

Once the information is entered at block 502, the uploaded VIN file maybe stored at block 504. In some embodiments, the uploaded VIN file maybe stored in a particular format (e.g., the original CSV format). Insome embodiments, the VIN file may be compressed and stored (e.g., bythe processor 202 or the lift module 208) in the memory 206. At block506, once the VIN file is stored at block 504, or simultaneously withstoring the VIN file at the block 504, the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 may generate a confirmation of the storage of the VIN file inthe memory 206. The confirmation may also be stored in the memory withthe stored VIN file. Additionally, the processor 202 or the lift module208 may take the data from the VIN file and store it in a VIN data tablefor further processing at block 508.

At block 510, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may transfer thecompressed and stored VIN file from block 504 to a storage or filesharing system. In some embodiments, at block 512, the processor 202 orthe lift module 208 may push the VIN file from the storage or filesharing system to another memory location (e.g., in the memory 206 or inanother location). In some embodiments, the steps of blocks 510 and 512may occur on a periodic basis (e.g., every 15 minutes or every hour).

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram for a method 600 of generating a liftreport according to the data of the flow diagram of FIG. 5. Method 600is an exemplary description of a method that may involve the user usingthe terminal 102 or one of the computing devices 106 and the historicalreport valuation system 108. Methods similar to method 600 may be runsimultaneously, in an overlapping manner, or sequentially for multipledealers or users that are each accessing the historical report valuationsystem 108 via one or more terminals 102 or via users with computingdevices 106. In some embodiments, particular steps of the method 600 maybe implemented by the processor 202, as referenced in FIG. 2. In someembodiments, one or more of the steps of the method 600 are implementedby one or more of the other components of the historical reportvaluation system 108, as referenced in FIGS. 1 and 2. In someembodiments, the blocks of the method 600 are performed in a sequentialmanner, while in other embodiments, the blocks of the method 600 may beperformed in a non-sequential manner, regardless of the terminology usedto describe the method 600 herein. A person having ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that the method 600 may be implemented by othersuitable devices and systems. Although the method 600 is describedherein with reference to a particular order, in various aspects, blocksherein may be performed in a different order, or omitted, and additionalblocks may be added.

The method 600 may begin at block 602, where the processor 202 or thelift module 208 may initiate or generate a batch process to analyze thedata from the VIN file as provided by the user. The VIN data table maybe processed in batch at particular times of day due to processingrequired by the quantity of VINs that may exist in the VIN data file.For example, the batch processing of the VIN data table (and other VINdata tables from other user uploads of VIN files) may all occur at 8 am,12 pm, and 4 pm. In some embodiments, the batch processing of the VINdata table(s) may occur at off-peak hours, such as at 10 pm, lam, and 4am.

In some embodiments, block 602 may involve reviewing the VIN data filedue to the processing required to analyze the data provided in the VINfile to determine if the VIN data table meets particular requirements.For example, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may check to seeif the quantity of VINs in the VIN data table exceeds a thresholdnumber. If so, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may generate amessage indicating that the VIN file is too large for processing. Insome embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may beconfigured to automatically truncate the VIN file based on the thresholdnumber. In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208may also determine if all of the VIN information stored in the VIN datatable is accurate or valid. For example, the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 may analyze the VINs in the VIN data table to ensure thatthey have appropriate lengths and comprise alphanumeric values with theproper expected values in the proper locations. The processor 202 or thelift module 208 may remove VINs and associated information that do notmeet these criteria. Additionally, the processor or the lift module 208may remove duplicate VINs from the VIN data table. Accordingly, theprocessor 202 or the lift module 208 may compare the quantity of VINs inthe VIN data table after removal of the VINs as described herein.

At block 604, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may read the VINdata table and start the batch processing of the processed VIN datafile. The processing of the VIN data table may include the processor 202or the lift module 208 identifying for each VIN in the VIN data tablewhat event records are available in either public sources (sources thatare available to anyone) or exclusive sources (e.g., sources that areexclusive to the historical report valuation system 108). The processor202 or the lift module 208 may also analyze the records for each VIN anddetermine a number of VINs of the VIN data table for which an eventrecord only exists from the exclusive sources. For example, theexclusive sources may include information for an accident for one of theVINs in the VIN data table that is not included in the public sources.Details of the analysis of the VINs in the VIN data table are providedbelow in relation to FIG. 10.

Once the processor 202 and the lift module 208 perform the batch processat block 604, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 generates areport of the results of the analysis of the VIN data table at block606. The report may be generated as a spreadsheet or text file or anyother format. Once the report is generated, the report may be compressedat block 608 by the processor 202 or the lift module 208 and transmittedto the user at block 610. In some embodiments, the information receivedfrom the user at block 502 with the VIN file may be stored in the VINdata file (e.g., the contact information, the merchant name, etc.).

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram for another method 700 of obtaininginformation for generation of a lift report by the system 100 of FIG. 1.Method 700 is an exemplary description of a method that may involve theuser using the terminal 102 or one of the computing devices 106 and thehistorical report valuation system 108. Methods similar to method 700may be run simultaneously, in an overlapping manner, or sequentially formultiple dealers or users that are each accessing the historical reportvaluation system 108 via one or more terminals 102 or via users withcomputing devices 106. In some embodiments, particular steps of themethod 700 may be implemented by the processor 202, as referenced inFIG. 2. In some embodiments, one or more of the steps of the method 700are implemented by one or more of the other components of the historicalreport valuation system 108, as referenced in FIGS. 1 and 2. In someembodiments, the blocks of the method 700 are performed in a sequentialmanner, while in other embodiments, the blocks of the method 700 may beperformed in a non-sequential manner, regardless of the terminology usedto describe the method 700 herein. A person having ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that the method 700 may be implemented by othersuitable devices and systems. Although the method 700 is describedherein with reference to a particular order, in various aspects, blocksherein may be performed in a different order, or omitted, and additionalblocks may be added.

At block 702, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may receiveinformation from the user regarding generating the lift report (e.g.,site login information, etc.). At block 704, the processor 202 or thelift module 208 may proceed through the process of method 500 of FIG. 5for obtaining information from the user through the upload of the VINfile and input of corresponding information. Alternatively, oradditionally, at block 706, the user may select the dealer for which thereport is to be run from a list of dealers. The list may correspond todealers for which the VIN file and corresponding contact information,etc., that would otherwise be manually entered as described in relationto method 500 of FIG. 5 is already loaded or stored into the memory 206.Once the dealer is selected from the list, data related to the dealer(e.g., the VIN list) stored in the memory may be copied to or insertedinto the VIN data table if one already exists at block 708 or insertedinto a new VIN data table if one does not already exist for the selecteddealer at block 710. In some embodiments, the validation of the VIN liststored in the memory 206 may occur offline or may be performed once theVIN list is copied to the VIN data table. Accordingly, the VIN datatables stored may only include the appropriate quantity of VINs and onlyvalid VINs. In some embodiments, the VIN files or data tables beinghandled and uploaded, and the resulting reports, may be very large basedon the number of VINs included therein. Thus, the various compressionmethods discussed herein may be used to reduce sizes of files.Furthermore, the verification/validation of VINs in the VIN file and/orVIN data tables may be used to reduce unnecessary processing andcommunication of excessively large files. Furthermore, the VIN files ordata tables may be limited in size to further reduce the need to processlarge quantities of data and communicate the large quantities of data.

FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram for a method 800 of generating a liftreport according to the data of the flow diagram of FIG. 7. Method 800is an exemplary description of a method that may involve the user usingthe terminal 102 or one of the computing devices 106 and the historicalreport valuation system 108. Methods similar to method 800 may be runsimultaneously, in an overlapping manner, or sequentially for multipledealers or users that are each accessing the historical report valuationsystem 108 via one or more terminals 102 or via users with computingdevices 106. In some embodiments, particular steps of the method 800 maybe implemented by the processor 202, as referenced in FIG. 2. In someembodiments, one or more of the steps of the method 800 are implementedby one or more of the other components of the historical reportvaluation system 108, as referenced in FIGS. 1 and 2. In someembodiments, the blocks of the method 800 are performed in a sequentialmanner, while in other embodiments, the blocks of the method 800 may beperformed in a non-sequential manner, regardless of the terminology usedto describe the method 800 herein. A person having ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that the method 800 may be implemented by othersuitable devices and systems. Although the method 800 is describedherein with reference to a particular order, in various aspects, blocksherein may be performed in a different order, or omitted, and additionalblocks may be added.

The method 800 may begin at block 802, where the processor 202 or thelift module 208 may initiate or generate a batch process to analyze thedata for the dealer selected in method 700 of FIG. 7. The VIN datatable(s) of the selected dealer(s) may be processed in batch atparticular times of day due to processing required by the quantity ofVINs that may exist in the VIN data file. For example, the batchprocessing of the VIN data table (and other VIN data tables from otheruser uploads of VIN files) may all occur at 8 am, 12 pm, and 4 pm. Insome embodiments, the batch processing of the VIN data table(s) mayoccur at off-peak hours, such as at 10 pm, lam, and 4 am.

At block 804, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may read theexisting and/or new VIN data table(s) and start the batch processing ofthe VIN data table(s). The VIN data table may be a new data table or maybe previously stored in the memory 206 or some other memory location.Once the VIN data table(s) is read and the batch is started, at block806, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may determine whether afile was transferred or a file needs to be created based on a new field.

At block 808, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 validates theVINs in the VIN data table. In some embodiments, validating the VINs mayinvolve reviewing the VIN data table, as discussed herein. For example,the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may check to see if thequantity of VINs in the VIN data table exceeds a threshold number. Ifso, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may generate a messageindicating that the VIN file is too large for processing at block 810.In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may beconfigured to automatically truncate the VIN file based on the thresholdnumber. In some embodiments, the processor 202 or the lift module 208may also determine if all of the VIN information stored in the VIN datatable is accurate or valid. For example, the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 may analyze the VINs in the VIN data table to ensure thatthey have appropriate lengths and comprise alphanumeric values with theproper expected values in the proper locations. The processor 202 or thelift module 208 may remove VINs and associated information that do notmeet these criteria. Additionally, the processor or the lift module 208may remove duplicate VINs from the VIN data table. Accordingly, theprocessor 202 or the lift module 208 may compare the quantity of VINs inthe VIN data table after removal of the VINs as described herein. Insome embodiments, the checks of the VIN information may be performedwhen the VIN data table is created and the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 may assume that the VIN data table is already verified andready to batch process.

At block 812, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 generates areport regarding the analysis of the VIN data table. This analysis mayinclude processing the VIN data table by the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 and identifying for each VIN in the VIN data table what eventrecords are available in either public sources (e.g., the vehiclehistory data store 104) and exclusive sources (e.g., the exclusivevehicle history data store 109). The processor 202 or the lift module208 may also analyze the records for each VIN and determine a number ofVINs of the VIN data table for which an event record only exists fromthe exclusive vehicle history data store 109. For example, the exclusivevehicle history data store 109 may include information for an accidentfor one of the VINs in the VIN data table that is not included in thevehicle history data store 104. Details of the analysis of the VINs inthe VIN data table are provided below in relation to FIG. 10. The reportgenerated at the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may be aspreadsheet or text file or a file of any other format. Once the reportis generated, the report may be compressed at block 814 by the processor202 or the lift module 208 and transmitted to the user at block 816.

FIG. 9 is an example of a screenshot of the lift report 900 generated bythe historical report valuation system 108 of FIG. 1, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment. The lift report 900 may include varioussections of data. For example, the lift report may include filestatistics section 902, reported issues section 904, accidents/damageevents section 906, and total exclusive events section 908. Each ofthese sections may include information that is generated or identifiedbased on the VIN data table discussed herein and the comparison ofevents associated with VINs in the VIN data table. In some embodiments,the lift report 900 is generated by one of the processor 202, the liftmodule 208, and the dealership report module 216. In some embodiments,the generated lift report may not include all of the information shownin FIG. 9 or discussed below. In some embodiments, the generated liftreport may include additional information not shown in FIG. 9.

The file statistics section 902 may include general or overviewinformation regarding the VIN file or VIN data table that was analyzedby the processor 202 or the lift table 208 as discussed in relation toFIGS. 5-8. For example, the file statistics section 902 may include atotal number of VINs 902 a that were included in the VIN file and/or theVIN data table before any verification or validation processes wereperformed. The total number of VINs 902 a may be determined by theprocessor 202 or the lift module 208 by counting the VINs in the VINfile or the VIN data table or based on the number of records in the VINfile as entered in prompt 406 of FIG. 3. Thus, the total number of VINs902 a may include duplicate VINs, incomplete VINs, etc. The filestatistics section 902 also includes a number of VINs processed 902 b bythe processor 202 or the lift module 208. This may include only thevalidated or verified VINs (e.g., after incomplete VINs or duplicateVINs are removed). Thus, the number of VINs processed 902 b should beless than or equal to the total number of VINs 902 a.

The file statistics section 902 also includes a number of VINs havingrecords 902 c. This may include the number of VINs for which eventrecords were found in at least one of the vehicle history data store 104or the exclusive vehicle history data store 109. The number of VINshaving records 902 c should be less than or equal to the number of VINsprocessed 902 b. The file statistics section 902 also includes a numberof VINs with negative events 902 d. This may include the number of VINsfor which negative event records (e.g., event regards that have adepreciating impact on the value of the associated vehicle) were foundin at least one of the vehicle history data store 104 or the exclusivevehicle history data store 109. The number of VINs with negative events902 d should be less than or equal to the number of VINs having records902 c. Finally, the file statistics section 902 also includes apercentage 902 e based on the number VINs with negative events 902 drelative to the number of VINs having records 902 c. This percentage mayshow how many VINs have negative events relative to how many VINs haveany event history records.

The reported issues section 904 may include a breakdown ofnon-accident/damage events that were identified by the processor 202 orthe lift module 208 for the VINs that were processed. The reportedissues section 904 may be divided into three columns: (1) ReportedIssues; (2) Shared Sources; and (3) Private Sources. The reported issuesmay include collision related events, auto insurance source reportedevents, exclusive auction announced data, total VINs with reportedissues, percentage of VINs with records or negative events reported, andexclusive data lift based on the reported issues. Each of these reportedissues may include values in the Shared Sources and/or Private Sourcescolumns. The values in these columns may correspond to a number of VINshaving records identifying the reported issues. For example, the sharedsources and the exclusive sources both identified 10 VINs in theprocessed VIN data table that have collision related events that werereported. Accordingly, both the exclusive and public sources were ableto provide the same level of reporting for the collision related events.Similarly, both the exclusive and public sources were able to providethe same level of reporting for the auto insurance source reportedevents. The reported issues section 904 shows, however, that the privateor exclusive sources are able to provide auction announced data that isnot available from public sources. Thus, the total number of VINs withreported issues from the public sources is 12, with a percentage of3.82%, while the total number of VINs with reported issues from theexclusive sources is 16, with a percentage of 5.10% of the total VINswith event records. Thus, the exclusive sources are able to provide anexclusive data lift of 1.27% based on the reported issues.

The accidents/damage events section 906 may include a breakdown ofaccident/damage events that were identified by the processor 202 or thelift module 208 for the VINs that were processed. The accidents/damageevents section 906 may be divided into three columns: (1) Accidents andDamage Related Events; (2) Shared Sources; and (3) Private Sources. Theaccidents and damage related events may include total accidents anddamage related events, exclusive accidents and damage related events,percentage of VINs with records with accidents and damage, and exclusivedata lift. Each of these accidents and damage related events may includevalues in the Shared Sources and/or Private Sources columns. The valuesin these columns may correspond to a number of VINs having recordsidentifying accidents and/or damage related events. For example, theshared sources identified 96 VINs in the processed VIN data table thathave accidents and damage related events that were reported while theexclusive sources identified 116 VINs in the processed VIN data tablehaving accidents and damage related events. Accordingly, the exclusivesources were able to provide a greater level of reporting for theaccident and damage related events as compared to the public sources.The exclusive accidents and damage related events show that there were20 accident or damage events that the exclusive source identified thatwere not identified in the public sources. Thus, the percentage of VINswith records with accidents and damage as identified by the publicsources is 30.57% while the percentage of VINs with records withaccidents and damage as identified by the exclusive sources is 36.94%.Thus, the exclusive data lift provided by the exclusive sources is6.37%.

The total exclusive events section 908 may include a breakdown of totalexclusive events that were identified by the processor 202 or the liftmodule 208 for the VINs that were processed. The total exclusive eventssection 908 may be divided into two columns: (1) Total Exclusive Events;and (2) Private Sources. The total exclusive events section 908 maysummarize the exclusive information that was identified in the liftreport, including the exclusive auction announced data and the exclusiveaccident and damage related events. Since there were 4 records ofexclusive auction announced data and 20 records of exclusive accidentevents, there are a total of 24 total exclusive data events, which is7.64% of the total number of VINs having records (e.g., 902 c). Thus,the lift generated by the exclusive sources, as identified by the liftreport, is 7.64%.

FIG. 10 is an example spreadsheet 1000 that may be generated whengenerating a lift report 900 of FIG. 9 with the historical reportvaluation system 108 of FIG. 1. The sample VINs provided in thespreadsheet 1000 may have been previously validated. The VINs in thespreadsheet 1000 may only include VINs from a VIN data table havingevent information for which records were identified in one or both ofthe vehicle history data store 104 or the exclusive vehicle history datastore 109. Thus, number of VINs in the spreadsheet 1000 may be only asmall fraction of the VINs in the corresponding VIN data table. In someembodiments, the information in the spreadsheet 1000 may be used togenerate the lift report described herein.

The spreadsheet 1000 may include a column 1011 for VINs of vehicles forwhich events are being compared, a column 1012 for event date for eventsidentified in the public vehicle history data store 104, and a column1013 for event type for events identified in the public vehicle historydata store 104. The spreadsheet also include a column 1014 for eventdate for events identified in the exclusive vehicle history data store109 and a column 1015 for event type for events identified in theexclusive vehicle history data store 109.

One of the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may generate thespreadsheet 1000 to provide details of event record for VINs in theanalyzed or processed VIN data table. For example, any VIN in the VINdata table for a particular dealer may have accident event recordsreported from one or more sources (e.g., the vehicle history data store104 and the exclusive vehicle history data store 109). Informationregarding any identified accident event records or similarly negativeevent records may be included in the spreadsheet 1000.

The spreadsheet 1000 is sorted by VIN (1011) and then event date (1012).If a VIN from the VIN data table does not have any reported activity(e.g., no event records in either the vehicle history data store 104 orthe exclusive vehicle history data store 109), that particular VIN willnot be displayed on the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet 1000 includesexamples of rules that may be used when generating the lift reportdescribed herein.

A first rule may relate to identifying events for inclusion in the liftreport. The first rule may correspond to ensuring that the same event isnot counted multiple times when generating the lift report. For example,an accident that happens on an interstate highway may include eventrecords in multiple public data stores. Accordingly, the first rule mayensure that the event is only counted once for the lift report. Forexample, the accident may result in two record events for a single VINin shared sources column 1013, as shown at indicator 1002. These eventsmay be identified in more than one source, but each source may indicatethat the event was an accident and each source may indicate that theaccident occurred on the same date (Dec. 15, 2006). Thus, whengenerating the lift report, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 maycount these records as a single event or instance that is not exclusiveto the exclusive source. Thus, events of same types and dates will onlycount as a single event regardless of how many public sources includeinformation regarding those events.

A second rule may similarly relate to identifying events for inclusionin the lift report when the same event is identified in both theexclusive vehicle history data store 109 and the vehicle history datastore 104 (or any other data sources). The second rule, similar to thefirst rule, may correspond to ensuring that the same event is notcounted multiple times when generating the lift report. For example, theaccident that happens on an interstate highway may include event recordsin both public and exclusive data stores. Accordingly, the second rulemay ensure that the event is only counted once for the lift report. Forexample, the accident may result in a record event for the single VIN inthe vehicle history data store 104 (column 1013) and another recordevent for the single VIN in the exclusive vehicle history data store 109(column 1015), as shown at indicator 1004. These events may beidentified in more than one source, but each source may indicate thatthe event was an accident (columns 1013/1015) and each source mayindicate that the accident occurred on the same date (columns1012/1014). Thus, when generating the lift report, the processor 202 orthe lift module 208 may count these records as a single event orinstance that is not exclusive to the exclusive source. Accordingly,events of same types and dates will only count as a single eventregardless of how many sources, exclusive or public, include informationregarding those events.

A third rule may relate to identifying events for inclusion in the liftreport when an event is only identified in the exclusive vehicle historydata store 109. The third rule may ensure that the events that areexclusive to the historical report valuation system 108 are countedand/or considered when generating the lift report. For example, anaccident that happens on a private road may include event records inonly exclusive data stores (e.g., the exclusive vehicle history datastore 109). As shown, only one record for the VIN is identified and thatrecord is from the exclusive vehicle history data store 109.Accordingly, the third rule may ensure that the event is counted as anexclusive event for the lift report. Thus, when generating the liftreport, the processor 202 or the lift module 208 may count the recordidentified at 1006 as a single event or instance that is exclusive.Similarly, the record shown at 1008 is from the exclusive vehiclehistory data store 109 and is not duplicative of a record from thevehicle history data store 104. Thus, the third rule counts the recordat 1008 as an exclusive event for the lift report.

A fourth rule may relate to identifying events for inclusion in the liftreport when the multiple similar events are identified in both theexclusive vehicle history data store 109 and the vehicle history datastore 104 (or any other data sources) but when the dates of thecorresponding records are not identical. The fourth rule, similar to thefirst and second rules, may correspond to ensuring that the same eventis not counted multiple times when generating the lift report. Forexample, the accident that happens on an interstate highway may includeevent records in both public and exclusive data stores. However,contrary to the events of 1002 and 1004 above, the events of 1010 maynot have identical dates. For example, the accident event of column 1013with the date of Jul. 26, 2013 in column 1012 may be similar to theaccident event of column 1015 having the date of Jul. 26, 2013 in column1014 but different from the accident event of column 1015 having thedate of Apr. 28, 2012 in column 1014. However, the fourth rule maydictate that there accident records are attributed to the public sourceeven though one of them appears to be exclusive to the exclusive vehiclehistory data store 109. Thus, when generating the lift report, theprocessor 202 or the lift module 208 may count these records as a singleevent or instance that is not exclusive. Accordingly, events of sametypes and same or similar dates will only count as a single, publiclyavailable event regardless of how many sources, exclusive or public,include information regarding those events.

An additional rule (not shown) may involve sale dates that are includedin the VIN data table. The sale dates may correspond to dates on whichthe dealer sold the vehicle having the identified VIN. The sale dates,if available in the VIN data table, may also be used to exclude eventsfrom the lift report. Based on the sale date, the processor 202 or thelift module 208 may exclude events that are in the exclusive sourcesthat occur after the sale date because knowledge of these events in theexclusive sources may not be beneficial to the dealer. For example, ifthe dealer no longer owns the vehicle (e.g., after the sale date whenthe vehicle was sold to a buyer), the dealer likely does not care aboutany events associated with that VIN, so they will not be included whengenerating the lift report.

FIG. 11 is an example of a screenshot including an ROI website 1100 asmaintained and/or provided by the historical report valuation system 108of FIG. 1. The ROI website 1100 shown may be generated by one of theuser interface module 214, the I/O interfaces and device 204, and thedealership report module 216 of the FIG. 2. In some embodiments, one ormore values displayed on the ROI website 1100 may be based on the liftdetermination or report generated by the lift module 208. The ROIwebsite 1100 may convey information regarding the benefit of thehistorical report valuation system 108, e.g., the exclusive vehiclehistory data stores, to the dealer and/or the user. The ROI website 1100may detail, based on general and specific information regarding thedealer, an amount of money that the dealer may save by having access tothe exclusive vehicle history data stores associated with the historicalreport valuation system 108.

In some embodiments, any of the values shown may be generated based ondefault values as identified from market research or averages of variousdealers. In some embodiments, the values shown may be generated based oninformation particular to each dealer utilizing the ROI website 1100.Some of the information used in the ROI website may be determined basedon the lift report 900 or the spreadsheet 1000.

The ROI website 1100 may include both outputs generated by thehistorical report valuation system 108 and/or input by the user and/orone or more modules of the historical report valuation system 108. TheROI website 1100 includes a first section 1102 identified as “DataInputs.” The Data Inputs field 1102 may comprise the information thatthe dealership report module 216 uses to generate the dealership reportand/or the lift values. For example, the Data Inputs field includes anaverage diminished value 1104, a dealer lift 1106, and a cost of accessto the exclusive vehicle history data stores 109. The value 1104 maycomprise a dollar amount equal to a price reduction that is caused by anegative event on any vehicle's vehicle history report. For example, asshown in the value 1104, the amount $2840 may suggest that a vehiclewithout any negative events in its vehicle history may have a projectedvalue that is $2840 higher than the same vehicle having one or morenegative events in its vehicle history. The lift 1106 may comprise thelift, as described above, determined based on the dealer's inventory. Insome embodiments, the lift generated by the lift module 208 above may beconfigured to automatically load or import into the dealership reportmodule 216 for inclusion on the ROI website 1100 and for generating thedealer's lift. The cost of the access to the one or more exclusivevehicle history data stores 109 may be a subscription or access fee foruse of the one or more private vehicle history data stores to obtainvehicle history reports for all used vehicles in the dealer's inventory,shown in 1108. In some embodiments, any of the fields may be useradjustable or may be automatically established by the historical reportvaluation system 108 based on external inputs and/or information.

The ROI website 1100 includes a second section 1110 identified as “YourDealership.” This section 1110 may include information received by thehistorical report valuation system 108 that is used to help generate thedealer's dealership report. As shown, the dealer having the dealershipreport with the lift as shown has a sales value 1112 indicating that thedealer sells 600 cars annually from a single dealership (e.g., number ofrooftops 1114). The ROI website 1100 includes a third section 1120 witha single “risk” field 1122. The risk field 1122 may include a dollaramount of risk determined based on the lift 1106, the average diminishedvalue 1104, and the car sales value 1112. For example, the Risk field1122 may correspond to $2840*600*5%=$85,200. In some embodiments, one ormore of the fields of the second section 1110 may be provided by thedealer (e.g., via the terminal 102). For example, the sales value 1112and the number of rooftops may be provided by the dealer (or by the uservia the mobile terminal 106). The risk field 1122 may be determined byone or more modules of the historical report valuation system 108 ofFIG. 1 as part of a dealership report generating step.

The ROI website 1100 includes a fourth section 1130 that indicates theannual cost 1132 of access to the one or more exclusive vehicle historydata stores and the cost per month 1134 of access to the one or moreexclusive vehicle history data stores. The ROI website 1100 includes afifth section 1140 includes a percentage 1142, the dollar amount 1144,and a cost of access to the one or more exclusive vehicle history datastores per vehicle sold 1146. The percentage 1142 corresponds to therisk field 1122 divided by the annual cost 1132. The dollar amount 1144corresponds to the risk field 1122 reduced by the annual cost 1132. Thecost per vehicle 1146 corresponds to the annual cost 1132 divided by thesales value 1112. The annual cost 1132 and the cost per month 1134 maybe determined by one or more modules of the historical report valuationsystem 108 of FIG. 1 as part of a dealership report generating step.Furthermore, the percentage 1142, the dollar amount 1144, and the costof access 1146 may also be determined by one or more modules of thehistorical report valuation system 108 of FIG. 1 as part of a dealershipreport generating step.

In some embodiments, the ROI website 1100 may be configured to showdeterminations and/or dealership reports for more than one dealer on asingle screen, thereby allowing for simplified comparisons. In someembodiment, additional data inputs may be provided regarding the various(e.g., lift) thresholds. In some embodiments, the ROI website 1100 mayfurther include a dealer rating or level (not shown) generated based onthe lift and/or other information shown in the ROI website 1100.

In some embodiments, the dealer lift 1106 may be determined based on thelift identified in the report 900. In such as case, the ROI website 1100may generate an ROI that is specific to the dealer using the ROI website1100.

FIG. 12 is a process flowchart illustrating an example method 1200 ofgenerating a lift value and/or a dealership report based on the liftvalue by the historical report valuation system 108 service, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. Method 1200 is an exemplarydescription of a method that may involve the dealer (e.g., the terminal102) and the historical report valuation system 108. Methods similar tomethod 1200 may be run simultaneously, in an overlapping manner, orsequentially for multiple dealers that are each accessing the historicalreport valuation system 108 via one or more dealer terminals 102 or viausers with computing devices 106. In some embodiments, particular stepsof the method 1200 may be implemented by the processor 202, asreferenced in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, one or more of the steps ofthe method 1200 are implemented by one or more of the other componentsof the historical report valuation system 108, as referenced in FIGS. 1and 2. In some embodiments, the blocks of the method 1200 are performedin a sequential manner, while in other embodiments, the blocks of themethod 1200 may be performed in a non-sequential manner, regardless ofthe terminology used to describe the method 1200 herein. A person havingordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the method 1200 may beimplemented by other suitable devices and systems. Although the method1200 is described herein with reference to a particular order, invarious aspects, blocks herein may be performed in a different order, oromitted, and additional blocks may be added.

Method 1200 begins at block 1202 and moves to block 1204. Block 1204includes receiving, via the interface, an inventory of vehicles, theinventory comprising at least one vehicle identified by at least one ofa vehicle identification number (VIN), a license plate number, or otherunique vehicle identifier. In some embodiments, the inventory ofvehicles may be received from the computing device 106 or the terminal102, via the network 110. In some embodiments, the inventory maycomprise a request to provide and/or generate a lift and/or dealershipreport based on one or more exclusive vehicle history data stores. Insome embodiments, the inventory and/or request may comprise a dateand/or time at which the report(s) and/or determination(s) are desired.In some embodiments, the dealer inventory may be associated with adealer account that includes previous inventories and/or previoushistorical report valuation determinations and reports.

From block 1204, the method 1200 moves to block 1206. Block 1206includes obtaining vehicle history records from one or more sources foreach vehicle in the inventory when the inventory is received. In someembodiments, the historical report valuation system 108 may use publiclyshared vehicle history data stores 104 to obtain the vehicle historyrecords for each vehicle in the inventory. In some embodiments,requesting the vehicle history records may require the dealer to opt into having a lift or dealership rating or level generated for comparisonto other dealerships.

From block 1206, the method 1200 moves to block 1208. Block 1208includes identifying, based on the obtained vehicle history records, anumber of vehicles in the inventory having events in their respectivehistories that reduce values of the respective vehicles.

From block 1208, the method 1200 moves to block 1210. Block 1210includes automatically determining a percentage of vehicles in theinventory having events that reduce the values of the respectivevehicles. The method 1200 also includes steps of block 1212. Block 1212includes automatically generating a report including the determinedpercentage from block 1210. The report may be generated to includeeither or both of the dealer lift or dealership report information, asdetermined by the historical report valuation system 108. In someembodiments, the report may also include a listing of all the eventsidentified by the data stores. The method 1200 also includes steps ofblock 1214, before proceeding to end at block 416. Block 1214 comprisesautomatically conveying the report to the user via the communicationcircuit with an alarm or notification when the percentage of vehicles inthe inventory having events that reduce the values of the respectivevehicles meets or exceeds a specified threshold.

For any discussions of dealers herein can be replaced with any one of aconsumer, a vehicle listing website, a lender, or any similar entityinvolved in vehicle sales and/or records. Furthermore, dealers andvehicles as described herein may be replaced with any other provider andgood where a history of the good is tracked (e.g., real estate, etc.).

Any of the components or systems described herein may be controlled byoperating system software, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7,Windows 8, Windows Server, UNIX, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, iOS, Android,Blackberry OS, or other similar operating systems. In Macintosh systems,the operating system may be any available operating system, such as MACOS X. In other embodiments, the components or systems described hereinmay be controlled by a proprietary operating system. Conventionaloperating systems control and schedule computer processes for execution,perform memory management, provide file system, networking, I/Oservices, and provide a user interface, such as a graphical userinterface (“GUI”), among other things.

In some embodiments, data stores and/or databases described herein maybe implemented using a relational database, such as Sybase, Oracle,CodeBase and Microsoft® SQL Server as well as other types of databasessuch as, for example, a flat file database, an entity-relationshipdatabase, and object-oriented database, and/or a record-based database.

Computing devices, which may comprise the software and/or hardwaredescribed above, may be an end user computing device that comprises oneor more processors able to execute programmatic instructions. Examplesof such computing devices are a desktop computer workstation, a smartphone such as an Apple iPhone or an Android phone, a computer laptop, atablet PC such as an iPad, Kindle, or Android tablet, a video gameconsole, or any other device of a similar nature. In some embodiments,the computing devices may comprise a touch screen that allows a user tocommunicate input to the device using their finger(s) or a stylus on adisplay screen.

The computing devices may also comprise one or more client programapplications, such as a mobile “app” (e.g. iPhone or Android app) thatmay be used to visualize data, and initiate the sending and receiving ofmessages in the computing devices. This app may be distributed (e.g.downloaded) over the network to the computing devices directly or fromvarious third parties such as an Apple iTunes or Google Play repositoryor “app store.” In some embodiments, the application may comprise a setof visual interfaces that may comprise templates to display vehiclehistory reporting and financing information. In some embodiments, asdescribed above, visual user interfaces may be downloaded from anotherserver or service. This may comprise downloading web page or otherHTTP/HTTPS data from a web server and rendering it through the “app”. Insome embodiments, no special “app” need be downloaded and the entireinterface may be transmitted from a remote Internet server to computingdevice, such as transmission from a web server to an iPad, and renderedwithin the iPad's browser.

In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodiedin hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions,possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programminglanguage, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software modulemay be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in adynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programminglanguage such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will beappreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules orfrom themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events orinterrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computingdevices may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compactdisc, digital video disc, flash drive, or any other tangible medium.Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a memory deviceof the executing computing device, such as the vehicle history reportingand financing system 100, for execution by the computing device.Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. Itwill be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised ofconnected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may becomprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays orprocessors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented assoftware modules, but may be represented in hardware or firmware.Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules thatmay be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despitetheir physical organization or storage.

In some embodiments, the system distinguishes between the initialtransmission of loan application data required for user interfaces, andsubsequent transmissions of user interface data so that it may transmitonly portions that are necessary to update a vehicle history reportingand financing user interface. This may be done, for example, using anXMLHttpRequest (XHR) mechanism, a data push interface, AsynchronousJavaScript and XML (“Ajax”), or other communication protocols.

Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described in thepreceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially automatedby, code modules executed by one or more computer systems or computerprocessors comprising computer hardware. The code modules may be storedon any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computerstorage device, such as hard drives, solid state memory, optical disc,and/or the like. The systems and modules may also be transmitted asgenerated data signals (for example, as part of a carrier wave or otheranalog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readabletransmission mediums, including wireless-based and wired/cable-basedmediums, and may take a variety of forms (for example, as part of asingle or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digitalpackets or frames). The processes and algorithms may be implementedpartially or wholly in application-specific circuitry. The results ofthe disclosed processes and process steps may be stored, persistently orotherwise, in any type of non-transitory computer storage such as, forexample, volatile or non-volatile storage.

The various features and processes described above may be usedindependently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. Allpossible combinations and sub combinations are intended to fall withinthe scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain method or processblocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processesdescribed herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, andthe blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in othersequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or statesmay be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, ormultiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state.The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, orin some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed fromthe disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and componentsdescribed herein may be configured differently than described. Forexample, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged comparedto the disclosed example embodiments.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, andpartially or fully automated via, software code modules executed by oneor more general purpose computers. For example, the methods describedherein may be performed by the vehicle history reporting and financingsystem 100, consumer computing device 162, and/or any other suitablecomputing device. The methods may be executed on the computing devicesin response to execution of software instructions or other executablecode read from a tangible computer readable medium. A tangible computerreadable medium is a data storage device that can store data that isreadable by a computer system. Examples of computer readable mediumsinclude read-only memory, random-access memory, other volatile ornon-volatile memory devices, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, flash drives, andoptical data storage devices.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description details certainembodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that nomatter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can bepracticed in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted thatthe use of particular terminology when describing certain features oraspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that theterminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including anyspecific characteristics of the features or aspects of the inventionwith which that terminology is associated. The scope of the inventionshould therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims andany equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for historical vehicle analysis,comprising: a communication circuit configured to transmit and receiveinformation over a communication network; an interface configured toallow user operation and interaction via the communication network; anda processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions inorder to: provide data to and receive data from the interface, receive,via the interface, a first list of records, the list comprising one ormore alphanumeric records, wherein at least one unique identifier existsfor each alphanumeric record; generate a second list of recordscomprising one or more alphanumeric records based on validating each ofthe alphanumeric records of the first list, wherein only validatedalphanumeric records of the first list are included in the second list;for each alphanumeric record in the second list: generate a request forone or more database records from one or more databases based on the atleast one unique identifier, transmit the request to the one or moredatabases via the communication network, and receive the one or moredatabase records from the one or more databases via the communicationnetwork, wherein each received database record includes a history ofevents associated with the at least one unique identifier; determine,for each received one or more database records, whether the databaserecord is received from an exclusive database of the one or moredatabases; filter the received one or more database records to identifya subset of database records, wherein each record in the subset includesa negative history event and is received from the exclusive database,wherein the negative history event includes one or more of an accident,a theft, vehicle damage, or a title issue; determine a count of recordsin the subset; determine whether the count exceeds a correspondingthreshold value; automatically generate an electronic, negative eventnotification when the count exceeds the threshold value; and transmitthe electronic, negative event notification to a remote user device viathe communication circuit.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor generates the electronic, negative event notification toinclude the unique identifiers of all records in the subset.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured todetermine a percentage of alphanumeric records in the second list havingevents identified by the exclusive database and include the percentagein the electronic, negative event notification.
 4. The system of claim3, wherein the processor generates the electronic, negative eventnotification to further include details of the negative history events.5. The system of claim 3, wherein the first list of records is a vehicleinventory of a dealership, wherein each alphanumeric record correspondsto a vehicle of the vehicle inventory, wherein the one or more databasesare one or more vehicle history report databases, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to determine a risk faced by thedealership, the risk determined based on an average reduction of valuefor vehicles having negative events identified based on vehicle historyreports and the determined percentage of vehicles having negativehistory events identified by the exclusive database.
 6. The system ofclaim 5, wherein the processor further generates a value based at leastin part on the determined risk.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein theprocessor is further configured to compare a percentage of vehicles onthe vehicle inventory of the dealership with one or more correspondingpercentages from one or more other dealerships in a vicinity of thedealership.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine when the risk faced by the dealership exceeds athreshold amount and generate an alert for transmission to the remoteuser device regarding the risk exceeding the threshold.
 9. A method ofhistorical vehicle analysis, comprising: receiving, via an interface, afirst list of records, the list comprising one or more alphanumericrecords, wherein at least one unique identifier exists for eachalphanumeric record; generating a second list of records comprising oneor more alphanumeric records based on validating each of thealphanumeric records of the first list, wherein only validatedalphanumeric records of the first list are included in the second list;storing the second list of records in a database; for each alphanumericrecord in the second list: requesting one or more database records fromone or more databases via a communication network based on the at leastone unique identifier, and receiving the one or more database recordsfrom the one or more databases via the communication network, whereineach received database record includes a history of events associatedwith the at least one unique identifier; determining, for each receivedone or more database records, whether the database record is receivedfrom an exclusive database of the one or more databases; filtering thereceived one or more database records to identify a subset of databaserecords, wherein each record in the subset includes a negative historyevent and is received from the exclusive database, wherein the negativehistory event includes one or more of an accident, a theft, vehicledamage, or a title issue; determining a count of records in the subset;determining whether the count exceeds a corresponding threshold value;automatically generating an electronic, negative event notification whenthe count exceeds the threshold value; and transmitting the electronic,negative event notification to a remote user device via thecommunication circuit.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating thereport comprises generating the electronic, negative event notificationto include the unique identifiers of all alphanumeric records in thesubset.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining apercentage of alphanumeric records in the second list having eventsidentified by the exclusive database and include the percentage in theelectronic, negative event notification.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the electronic, negative event notification is generated tofurther include details of the negative events identified by theexclusive database.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first listof records is a vehicle inventory of a dealership, wherein eachalphanumeric record corresponds to a vehicle of the vehicle inventory,wherein the one or more databases are one or more vehicle history reportdatabases, and further comprising determining a risk faced by thedealership, the risk determined based on an average reduction of valuefor vehicles having negative events identified based on vehicle historyreports and the determined percentage of vehicles having negativehistory events identified by the exclusive database.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising generating a value based at least in parton the determined risk.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprisingcomparing a percentage of vehicles on the vehicle inventory of thedealership with one or more corresponding percentages from one or moreother dealerships in a vicinity of the dealership.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising determining when the risk faced by thedealership exceeds a threshold amount and generating an alert fortransmission to the remote user device regarding the risk exceeding thethreshold.
 17. Non-transitory, computer-readable storage media storingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computersystem, configure the computer system to perform operations comprising:receiving, via an interface, a first list of records, the listcomprising one or more alphanumeric records, wherein at least one uniqueidentifier exists for each alphanumeric record; generating a second listof records comprising one or more alphanumeric records based onvalidating each of the alphanumeric records of the first list, whereinonly validated alphanumeric records of the first list are included inthe second list; storing the second list of records in a local database;for each alphanumeric record in the second list: requesting one or moredatabase records from one or more databases via the communicationnetwork based on the at least one unique identifier, and receiving theone or more database records from the one or more databases via thecommunication network, wherein each received database record includes ahistory of events associated with the at least one unique identifier;determining, for each received one or more database records, whether thedatabase record is received from an exclusive database of the one ormore databases; filtering the received one or more database records toidentify a subset of database records, wherein each record in the subsetincludes a negative history event and is received from the exclusivedatabase, wherein the negative history event includes one or more of anaccident, a theft, vehicle damage, or a title issue; determining a countof records in the subset; automatically generating an electronic,negative event notification when the count exceeds the threshold value;and transmitting the electronic, negative event notification to a remoteuser device via the communication circuit.